by By: Joey Daniels (@GBPhoenixWBB)
WATCH: ESPN3 (Domestic) | HLN(International) – coming soon
LISTEN: WNFL 92.1 FM, 1440 AM
STATS: LIVE STATS
GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) –The top-seeded Green Bay women’s basketball team begins its quest for its 12th Horizon League Tournament title in the last 17 seasons on Wednesday night, when it hosts No. 8 seed Milwaukee at the Kress Center in the quarterfinals.
Green Bay (25-4) has had the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament clinched since its victory on Feb. 26 at Oakland and will now have the opportunity to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. The Phoenix fell in the championship game to Wright State last season, but went 15-1 in league play this season and will have the opportunity to lift another trophy in front of its home crowd.
No. 8 seed Milwaukee (10-19) knocked off No. 9 seed Valparaiso in the tournament’s opening round game, winning 77-64 at home behind Ashley Green’s game-high 23 points. Overall, the Panthers ended the regular season with six losses in seven games, but did defeat the No. 3 seed Cleveland State. Milwaukee went 1-7 on the road in conference play this season.
Tournament Central: Visit the official tournament site for the upcoming Horizon League Tournament, which will be hosted by Green Bay.
NIFTY NOTES
- Tesha Buck (Mdewakanton Sioux) has now scored in double figures in seven straight games and 19 games overall this season.
- Green Bay edged out its smallest margin of victory this season when it defeated Detroit 52-51 on Saturday, despite leading by as many as 20 points in the second half.
- The 52 points is the fewest points scored in a game this season by Green Bay. The previous low was 53 points, which was scored in three separate games.
- Green Bay is 20-0 when its opponent scores less than 60 points.
- Green Bay is a perfect 16-0 on Saturdays and is 3-1 on Wednesdays (Only L came at home to Oakland).
- The Phoenix has now tied its longest winning streak of the last two seasons at eight games.
PERFECT QUARTERS
Green Bay has never lost in the conference tournament quarterfinals, dating all the way back to the program’s first year in Division I in 1987-88. GB is a perfect 26-0 during that time, and has won its last 10 quarterfinal games by double digits. Green Bay has met Milwaukee in the quarterfinals recently in 2009-10, when GB won 72-48.
RECORD-SETTING DEFENSE
The Phoenix held Detroit to 32.7 percent shooting on Saturday, which was good enough to set a new Horizon League record for field goal percentage defense in a season. Green Bay has held opponents in league play this season to an overpowering 31.7 percent shooting performance. That percentage is both a new league and program record. GB also set a new school record for single game field goal percentage defense this season when it held UIC to 14.9 percent shooting on Feb. 21.
ALL-LEAGUE
The Horizon League announced its postseason award winners on Monday afternoon, and Green Bay landed three players on Second-Team All-League and one on the All-Defensive Team. Tesha Buck, Mehryn Kraker and Megan Lukan each landed on the Second-Team, while Lukan also made an appearance on the All-Defensive Team. Buck and Kraker led the Phoenix in scoring this season, while Lukan led the team in assists and rebounding. It marked just the second time in the last 17 seasons that GB did not have a player on the First-Team.
CONFERENCE CARRIERS
In conference games alone, the Phoenix leads the league in multiple categories. The statistics that the Phoenix ranks first in are listed below:
Scoring Defense: 49.5 PPG (NCAA: 15th at 54.4 PPG)
Scoring Margin: +19.4 (NCAA: 21st at +14.3)
Field Goal %: .442 (NCAA: 44th at .435)
Field Goal % Defense: .317 (NCAA: 23rd at .357)
Rebounding Defense: 33.8 RPG
Assists: 18.1 APG (ranks 19th with 16.5 APG)
Assist/Turnover Ratio: 1.3 (ranks 19th at 1.2)
THE GREEN BAY WAY
All nine players scored for Green Bay in its 52-51 win on Saturday, marking the fourth-straight game that all of the players dressed for the Phoenix scored at least two points. Over these last four games, the Green Bay bench has combined to outscore its opponent 100-42.
LUKAN’S LEADERSHIP
The fifth-year senior Megan Lukan has been the backbone of Green Bay basketball this season and continues to lead her team in both rebounding (5.0 RPG) and assists (4.9 APG). Lukan has now reached 200 points for the fourth time in her career and tallied 500 career assists in Green Bay’s win at Oakland. She ranks 17th in the NCAA in active career assists with 511 and is Green Bay’s all-time Division I leader in that category.
BALANCE BACKLASH
Because the Phoenix continues to be so balanced in its offensive attack, the team has not received one Horizon League Player of the Week or Freshman of the Week Award since the start of the conference season. Green Bay has six players averaging 7.2 PPG or more, the most balanced effort in the league. Because of the “Green Bay Way” and the balanced offense, the program has not been able to win weekly honors, but has gone 15-1 during that span and will take the wins over individual accolades any day.
vs MILWAUKEE
Green Bay swept the regular season series this year, winning 63-37 at home and 79-62 at Milwaukee. The Phoenix is now 60-18 (.769) all-time versus the Panthers and has won 20 of the last 21 games overall. In Green Bay’s last eight games, Milwaukee is the only team to reach the 60-point mark which came on Feb. 14.
RPI UPDATE
As of March 9, Green Bay ranks No. 25 in the NCAA RPI standings. Using those same standings, the Phoenix has nine wins against teams ranked inside the RPI top 100, going 9-3 in those games. Three of the four defeats suffered by the Phoenix have come against teams ranked inside the RPI Top 50.
REMARKABLE RUN
This impossible run for the Phoenix began back in 1998-99, Kevin Borseth’s first season as head coach of the Phoenix which means that Borseth is a perfect 12-for-12 in league championships. During this remarkable stretch, Green Bay has won the title outright 15 of the 17 times. The program has never won less than 12 league games during that span and has finished with one or fewer losses in 11 of those years.
BRACKETOLOGY
In the latest edition of ESPN’s Bracketology, composed by Charlie Creme, Green Bay is slotted in as a No. 8 seed in the Greensboro region against No. 9 seed Western Kentucky. Creme has that game being played in South Bend, Ind., hosted by Notre Dame who Creme has as a No. 1 seed. NOTE: This is only a projection by ESPN and Creme, which holds no bearing on the actual selection process by the NCAA.
RECEIVING VOTES
Green Bay is now receiving 19 votes in the latest Associated Press Top 25 Poll, released on Monday (Mar. 9). The Phoenix has appeared as high as No. 24 in the land and is currently ranked an unofficial 29th. GB is not receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
